A Northland man has been arrested following a burglary at the Kaikohe Gliding Club last month caused more than $250,000 worth of loss and damage.
Police were called to the rural Kaikohe Aerodrome on March 27, after reports of extensive damage and missing equipment from the volunteer gliding club.
Far North police Senior Sergeant Clem Armstrong said the gliders were badly damaged in the "targeted burglary", with costs totalling $60,000 per glider.
“Two vehicles were also taken and an $80,000 tractor mower. This equipment is essential to keeping the gliding club operational," he said.
“Adding further insult, approximately 100 litres of diesel and petrol were stolen, along with batteries from the club’s solar power system."
The Kaikohe Aerodrome was built in 1942 as a US Marines bomber base and had the largest grass strip in the Southern Hemisphere – with the glider club having the responsibility of mowing it.
Kaikohe Glider Club secretary and treasurer Keith Falla told 1News last month the destruction had left the club "extremely vulnerable" and at risk of closure, mainly due to the loss of the tractor mower.
"It's dangerous to have longer grass with a small propeller aircraft, they can end up catching the propeller on the grass and causing a lot of damage," Falla said.
"If we don’t get that mower back immediately, we’d have to shut down.
"This loss is something we simply cannot absorb. We’re the only cheap place where people can come and learn to fly. This is where cadets come, and where a lot of people begin their flying careers."
On Monday, police said a 28-year-old man was arrested and charged in connection with the burglary and faced 21 charges relating to a series of rural thefts in the Mangakahia and Awarua areas.
"The club was over the moon to hear we had arrested someone," Armstrong said.
There were 12 charges of burglary, two of theft of a motor vehicle, intentional damage, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, receiving, and theft.
Police also recovered stolen industrial drill parts valued at $40,000 during the investigation, which had been imported from the US by a Northland mining company. Those parts had since been returned.
“It’s great to be able to recover these expensive and crucial pieces of equipment and return them to their rightful owners," Armstrong said.
“Our investigation remains ongoing. We are still looking at who else may be involved.”
In response to the arrest, the gliding club told 1News they were pleased charges had been laid but were yet to hear of their equipment being recovered.
The man is due to appear in the Kaikohe District Court later this month.
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